


Cat

by LoveChilde



Series: C is for Caring [3]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Cat Sitting, Collection: Purimgifts Day 3, Community: purimgifts, Friendship, Gen, Loneliness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-23
Updated: 2018-02-23
Packaged: 2019-03-22 23:02:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 740
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13774461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LoveChilde/pseuds/LoveChilde
Summary: When Emily's away on cases, Garcia feeds her cat. Sometimes, she does this when Emi;y's not away on cases, too.





	Cat

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sapphire2309](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphire2309/gifts).



> Final day, final part! Hope you enjoyed.

Garcia started taking care of Sergio, even before Emily had ‘died’. 

_“Hey Garcia, could I ask a huge favor?” She leaned against the doorway to Garcia’s room and looked vaguely uncomfortable._

_“Anything within my power, sweetie, you know that.” Garcia spun her chair around. “What’s up?”_

_“I...sorta - well, I adopted a kitten.” Emily looked oddly embarrassed by that, and immediately added, “He was caught in the gutter by my apartment, tiny and dirty and I couldn’t just leave him there, you know?”_

_“Of course you couldn’t! Can I see a pic?” Garcia grinned. Who’d have thought that Prentiss, of all people, would have a pet._

_“I...didn’t take any pictures?” Apparently baffled by the possibility that she might’ve, Emily shrugged. “Anyway, we have to head out for a few days, and you don’t live that far away from me, is there any chance you could-”_

_“Stop by and feed him? Totally! About how old is he?”_

_“About three months now. His name’s Sergio, he’s black. I’d have asked my neighbours, but I’ve lived in that complex four years and I’ve never actually spoken with them, so-” Again, she seemed awkward. Garcia found it adorable, and anyway she loved cats._

_“No problem at all, I can totally take care of him for you. Just let me know where you keep the food and how to find his spare litter.”_

_They sorted out logistics with a few quickly-scribbled notes, and Emily slipped Garcia her spare key._

_“Could you...not tell the others? It’s just - you know.”_

_Garcia did not, in fact, ‘know’, but she knew her team and how some of them were about their private lives, so she promised._

It became a habit after that for Garcia to stop by and feed Sergio when Emily was out on a case. It took him a while to warm up to her, but they became very good friends. 

They got considerably closer after everyone thought Emily died, and if Sergio’s fur soaked up more than a few tears over those awful, long months, having him was like having a part of Emily still with her, and Garcia decided that he was remarkably comforting. 

Emily when left the team, Sergio went with her. He weathered quarantine in both directions to go to England. And when Emily returned to the team it was only natural that Garcia slipped back into the old routine of stopping by to feed him when the team was away. He still remembered and liked her, which made her feel quite special. 

Returning from a long, miserable case in the nastiest part of winter in Minnesota, Emily barely bothered to turn on the light in her apartment before collapsing on the sofa. She barely had the energy to raised a hand and stroke it down Sergio’s back when he came to rub against her with feline concern. 

It had been a shitty case, plain and simple. A violent unsub on a rampage with snow that never let up and temperatures well below zero had ended with a hostage situation, from which only three of five hostages walked away. A total of eight bodies, one of them the unsub. Emily was cold and exhausted, and hurt all over. And while she knew she should be hungry the thought of food made her slightly queasy. In short, she was quite justified in feeling sorry for herself. 

The key turning in the lock made her twitch violently and reached for the service weapon she didn’t have - it was locked away at the office - and then frown. “Garcia?”

“Just stopped by to feed Sergio. Hey, buddy.” Garcia, carrying a paper bag in one hand, bent down to rub Sergio’s ears when he bound over to greet her, “And maybe his human, as well?” She raised the bag slightly by way of demonstration, and Emily smelled something rich and spicy and realized she was _starving_.

“You shouldn’t have.” 

“Sure I should have. It was such a fast case, I’m low on my kitty cat quota for the week. Besides, I saw how you guys looked when you came in, and know what the case was like. Figured you needed some TLC.” 

Emily _hated_ not being self-sufficient, and it had already been so hard for her to accept help. But she was exhausted, and Garcia’s presence with her bubbly warmth and food, was already making Emily feel better. 

“Thanks, Penelope.”

“Sure thing. What are friends for?” 

 

[](http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/Gills8/media/ac_black_cat_comp.jpg.html)


End file.
